If you are thinking about taking on Apprentices or putting existing employees through an Apprenticeship, there are some important bits of information that you need to know and consider first.

WHAT DOES AN APPRENTICESHIP INVOLVE?

Whether you are considering an apprenticeship to help fill a skills gap, to prepare for expansion within your sector / organisation or to simply enhance the capabilities of your employees, there will be a programme suited to your needs.
An apprenticeship programme is made up of both on and off-the-job training. A dedicated and qualified Trainer will embed knowledge, skills and behaviours within your Apprentices and will provide guidance and support to help them achieve their potential, and gain a recognised qualification.

AVAILABLE FUNDING

You’re paying the levy so why not benefit from it?
100% of the Apprenticeship training cost can be drawn from the levy, if you are a levy payer. If you aren’t, you only need to pay 5%.
Should you have more learners than your accumulative levy will cover, there are several options that can be considered, these can be discussed in more detail on a situation-by-situation basis.

PROGRAMMES

Gi Group have a range of skilled Trainers who are qualified to deliver a multitude of apprenticeship programmes including:

• Operations / Departmental Manager – Level 5
• Sales Executive – Level 4
• Recruitment Consultant – Level 3
• Team Leader – Level 3
• Business Administration – Levels 2 & 3
• Recruitment Resources – Level 2
• Food and Drink Operative – Level 2

Within many of these programmes is an embedded qualification such as a BTEC or NVQ. If your desired programme does not have a mandatory qualification but you wish for your Apprentices to complete one, this can be accommodated.

OFF-THE-JOB (OTJ) TRAINING

The equivalent of 20% of the time your Apprentices are on programme will be made up of off-the-job training.
OTJ training is a mandatory aspect of completing an apprenticeship and will enable your Apprentices to develop their knowledge, skills and behaviour in areas relevant to your organisation. Unlike the days where an Apprentice was required to attend college one day a week, OTJ training takes place within their place of work. A rigid and clear agreement must be made prior to any Apprentice being enrolled which will be monitored by Gi Group to ensure sufficient progress is being made throughout the programme.
This may sound daunting but once you understand what can be counted it’s surprising how quickly this builds up! You will find that a large majority of this is naturally occurring and the activities that the employees complete on an everyday basis will count toward their 20%.

In short, any activity that is directly related to the apprenticeship programme, and is completed within their normal working hours is classed as OTJ.

Some examples of this include:
• Shadowing a colleague in a different role
• Completing online research
• Attending a networking event
• Attending or conducting team briefs
• Being released on secondment
• Mentoring a colleague

TIME SPENT AWAY FROM THE WORKPLACE

Although a large amount of apprenticeship training is carried out in the workplace, dependent on the programme chosen training can take place in a variety of ways.
Your Apprentices may be required to attend workshops throughout the duration of the programme which may be delivered off-site. These workshops will last between 1 and 3 days.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

As the Employer your responsibility is to reinforce the importance and benefit of the apprenticeship and ensure your learners stay on track. You will also be required to accommodate the release of the learners from their workplace for the off-the-job training provisions and any offsite training.

CONTACT

A Gi Group Trainer will be a constant source of contact for your Apprentices. They will offer guidance and support, conduct regular progress reviews, provide feedback /feedforward for any submitted work and be on hand to answer any queries the learners may have.

Gi Group are proud to have a full support team in place for all learners. We have a dedicated Safeguarding team, and qualified Mental Health First Aiders throughout the country to ensure the positive wellbeing and mental energy of our colleagues and learners.

More information on all aspects of Apprenticeships can be found here – https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/

NEXT STEPS

To discuss your requirements further please contact the Gi Group Apprenticeship team today by calling 01246 264928 or emailing our Head of Employability, Skills and Learning – Kate.Maddison-Greenwell@gigroup.com

We look forward to working alongside your organisation soon!